- In the 1990s, Peter Barca, a former Democratic congressman from southeastern Wisconsin, announced his candidacy for Congress against incumbent Republican Brian Still, who is seeking a fourth term.
- Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, previously held by Paul Ryan, has become more competitive since new boundaries were adopted in 2022.
- Barça’s political history includes terms in Congress and leadership roles in state legislatures.
The Democrat, who represented southeastern Wisconsin in the 1990s and later became a legislative leader and state revenue secretary, announced Thursday that he is running for Congress again.
Peter Barca has announced his candidacy against Republican Congressman Brian Still, who is seeking a fourth term. Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, previously represented by former House Speaker Paul Ryan, leans Republican, but has become more competitive under new boundaries adopted in 2022.
The seat is a national target for Democrats seeking to regain control of the House majority. This is his one of only two congressional districts in Wisconsin that are considered competitive. The other is western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, held by Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
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Republicans hold six of the eight seats in the Wisconsin state legislature.
Wisconsin Democratic Leader Peter Barca speaks to reporters at the state Capitol on February 25, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin. Balsa, who served as a congressman from southeastern Wisconsin in the 1990s and later served as a legislative leader and state revenue commissioner, has announced he will run for Congress again. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Barça, 68, held the 1st Congressional District seat from 1993 to 1995. He had previously considered running for the seat after Ryan resigned in 2018.
Barca is the first prominent Democrat to enter the race. The National Democratic Party is expected to support Barça’s campaign. The primary election is August 13th.
In a statement announcing the campaign, Barça said his long record of public service shows him to be a warrior for working families and contrasted himself with an “inert and dysfunctional parliament”. He said that he is doing so.
“We need someone to step up and step up to the plate again for their family,” he said.
Steil’s campaign said in a statement that over the past 40 years, Barça has “put his political career ahead of his family in Wisconsin.” The camp also criticized Barça for opposing a 2016 bill banning sanctuary cities and for voting in favor of a 1993 Congressional budget that raised gas taxes.
Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, accused Barca of being a “sacrificial lamb” who “ignored his policies before the people of Wisconsin.”
Steil was elected in 2018 by a 12-point margin, won re-election in 2020 by a 19-point margin, and in 2022 by a nine-point margin.
Balsa was elected to the state Legislature from 1985 to 1993, resigning after winning a special election for Congress. After his defeat in 1995, former President Bill Clinton appointed him Midwest Regional Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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He was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 2008 and served as Democratic Minority Leader from 2011 to 2017.
Barça was the Democratic leader in the 2011 fight over collective bargaining rights. Barca helped organize a filibuster that lasted more than 60 hours in Congress as his Democratic colleagues in the Senate fled to Illinois to try to block the passage of a bill that would effectively eliminate collective bargaining for public employees.
Barça is in the minority, in part due to complaints from fellow Democrats over its support for a $3 billion incentive package for Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, which had plans to build a large facility in the district. He resigned from his position as leader.
Barca left the Legislature in 2019 when Gov. Tony Evers appointed him to head the state Department of Revenue. He resigned last month.
